Nvidia is providing the core technology that powers Nintendo's next generation NX console. Multiple sources have confirmed that the new machine is based around Nvidia's mobile-orientated Tegra processor, with development kits currently using the Tegra X1 chip found in the Shield Android TV console and the Google Pixel C tablet. The news is bound to come as some surprise to those - including ourselves - who suspected that AMD would provide the technology guts to the new Nintendo machine, but what's clear is that the firm is planning to go into a completely new, potentially revolutionary direction. Right now, it is simply not interested in providing hardware that directly competes with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It has its own ideas on where to take next-gen gaming.
NX is a mobile games machine, albeit one with a twist - principally that the unit can plug into a base station that transforms it into something more akin to a conventional console. However, the handheld's side-mounted control areas are apparently detachable, becoming individual pads for two-player gameplay - as revealed in today's big Nintendo NX news story on this site. At a really basic level, NX is effectively a reversal of the Wii U GamePad concept. It's a fully integrated mobile games machine you can plug into an HDTV, as opposed to a console with a semi-portable gaming component, bolstered with a unique 'go anywhere' take on local multiplayer.
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